Oil Patch

The Edmonton area has produced its share of excellent hockey players, and that trend doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon. The Team Canada world junior development camp was held in Edmonton this summer and featured five players native to the city and if you look at any league, you will find several players from Alberta’s capital and many more looking to advance their hockey careers.

The Edmonton Oilers’ successful series Oil Change will be back for a second season this fall but this time on Sportsnet and Edmonton’s Citytv. The first episode will be on Citytv Edmonton Friday, Oct. 21 at 8pm MST and then again on Sportsnet West Sunday, Oct. 23 at 11pm MST. This promo features comments from Taylor Chorney lost today on waivers to the St. Louis Blues and a sneak peak at what the Oilers’ think tank discussed during the off-season.

EDIT: After submitting questions to Aquila Productions, the people who bring you Oil Change, there are currently no plans to sell the series on DVD but you can watch past episodes on the Oilers website. For those of you in the US, yes, the NHL network will also air the show

This frees up a contract for the Oilers, but without seeing someone they are excited about on waivers, the team is not likely to pick anyone up. Trades are always an option, so long as the team is willing to move something or someone in return.

The Edmonton Oilers today placed defenceman Taylor Chorney on waivers for the purpose of re-assignment to the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL. This move likely indicates that Ryan Whitney is not too far off from returning to the Oilers’ lineup. Currently Whitney is listed as day to day, but the Oilers do not play another game until Thursday night in Minnesota.

Oilers beat Penguins 2-1 in shootout
This game was more than just a home opener in Oil Country. This was the season opener, the first game as Oilers for the newly acquired Oilers, the first NHL game for Anton Lander and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and of course the return of Ryan Smyth.

The Edmonton Oilers took to Jasper this week for a little team building and training upon the completion of the pre-season. Thanks to various tweets we have an idea of what the bus ride and week was like. At the same time, the Oilers’ lines have been shuffled for opening night and will continue to change until Tom Renney sees something he likes.

The Edmonton Oilers face several challenges in the coming season. The team is still/already riddled with injuries, don’t appear to have complete confidence in their goaltending, and the defence is still quite young and is easily the most identifiable weakness of the roster. While the Oilers appear good up front, that will depend upon the sophomores avoiding the dreaded second year slumps.

Minor Updates and Musings
The Edmonton Oilers may not be as short on defenceman opening night as was previously believed. According to the Oilers website, “Both Ryan Whitney and Ladislav Smid are progressing and could potentially shock Oil Country by playing vs. the Penguins, but Taylor Chorney is certainly ready to go.” If Whitney feels ready to play, the team trainer clears him, and the coaching staff puts Whitney into the lineup, it will not be a problem because Whitney has been on the team’s injured reserve listing since his injury last December. As such, the defenceman has been on the IR for much longer than the required week. For Smid to play he cannot have been placed on the IR on Wednesday but the Oilers’ website has not been updated to indicate which players have been placed on IR. So, it will be a surprise to Oil Country if Smid plays and if he doesn’t.

The WHL has been the starting point for many NHL careers; it’s a dream held by most players in the league. For the three Reinhart brothers, Max, Griffin and Sam that dream is a little closer to home than for others. The Reinhart brothers are sons of Paul Reinhart, former Calgary Flame and this year all three brothers are playing in the WHL.

Apparently, 95% of parents have a favourite child and that the other 5% are lying. With that in mind I won’t bother suggesting that I don’t have favourite prospects, even though the two situations are completely different. I try to remain unbiased, and can be successful in that regard in many ways, but certainly not all. Quite simply, some prospects make my job easy; they’re confident, well spoken, friendly and put me at ease as much as I hope I do for them. Drew Czerwonka of the Kootenay Ice is one of those prospects. With his calm yet friendly demeanor, million dollar smile and thoughtful responses Czerwonka has quickly become a favourite of mine.

About Oil Patch

Lisa McRitchie is a fairly new writer, online at least, but makes up for inexperience with passion for the game of hockey and memories of Mrs. Leskiw’s English AP class; who knew they would pay off one day.

Oil Patch focuses on the Edmonton Oilers, the Edmonton Oil Kings, The Oklahoma City Barons and Team Canada Hockey with game coverage, news updates, speculation and interviews.

Although the Oilers have had a difficult past decade… or three, here at Oil Patch, the future looks bright.